Research Information System
Journal of Oncological Science, vol.9, no.3, pp.158-165, 2023 (Scopus)
Objective: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are markers of systemic in-flammation. NLR and PLR can predict the treatment outcomes of metastatic cancer for patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). In this study, we investigated whether NLR or PLR is a better predictor of survival outcomes. Material and Methods: Between Febru-ary 2016 and November 2021, 106 patients who had metastatic disease arising from different types of solid tumors treated with ICIs were ret-rospectively evaluated. The cut-off values of the NLR and PLR were determined by performing ROC curve analysis. Cox regression analysis was performed to evaluate the predictive role of NLR and PLR in progression-free survival (PFS). Results: The median age of patients was 62 years (range: 19-84 years), and 60.4% of patients were male. The cut-off values for NLR and PLR were 4.06 and 192.59, respectively. The patients were divided into two groups (low/high) according to the cut-off values. The results of the univariate analysis showed that PFS was significantly longer in the group with low NLR and PLR. High NLR [hazard ratio: 1.95, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.20-3.15, p=0.006] and ≥2 Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (hazard ratio: 2.62, 95% CI: 1.61-4.26, p<0.001) were independent negative predictive factors for PFS in the multivariate Cox regression analysis. Conclusion: We found that PFS and disease control rate were significantly better in patients with low NLR who were administered immunotherapy. NLR may be a better predictive marker than PLR in cancer patients administered immunotherapy.